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Press releases 2014

Say welcome to Ceravis AG

Danish Agro, Vestjyllands Andel and the German agribusiness Agravis has now obtained the competition authorities approval for the acquisition of Getriede AGs agribusiness activities.

In connection with the approval an assurance was given of a sell-off of a few sites in Brandenburg and Sachsen-Anhalt. These sites comprise a combined turnover of just below 1 billion DKK.

The acquisition is realized through the three companies joined joint venture company DAVA Agravis International Holding A/S. Danish Agro and Vestjyllands Andel will own 75 % and Agravis 25 % of the acquired activities.

Group CEO in Danish Agro, Mr. Christian Junker, is happy about the approval.

- We are very satisfied with the approval from the German competition authorities. This means that we now, just after closing, can start the integration of the German activities with the rest of the group and utilize the synergies we have identified. The acquired sites and subsidiaries are strong in the north and eastern parts of Germany, and therefore fits very well with our agribusiness activities in Scandinavia and the Baltic, where we now will have an even stronger position, he says.

Ceravis AG

The acquired agribusiness activities will continue as an independent legal entity under a new name, Ceravis AG. ‘Cera’ refers to cereal and ‘vis’ is latin for power and/or dynamics. The new company will consist of more than 60 sites, 500 employees and a turnover in the level of 7 billion DKK after the sites have been sold off.

The new top management in the company will consist of Mr. Thorsten Pogge (59 years) and Mr Henrik Stilund (44 years). Mr. Pogge, who is German, will become CEO in Ceravis AG. He comes from a position as Executive Vice President and Member of the Executive Board in Agravis and has a substantial experience from the German agribusiness market. Mr. Stilund will become COO in the company and be responsible for the raw material and grain trade and risk management. Today Mr. Stilund is part of the Danish Agro executive management and responsible for international trade and risk management on a group level. He will continue in this role along with his new responsibilities in Ceravis AG.

- We now have a very skilled management in place which I am certain will deliver good results as soon as the integration is in place. We know the German market very well through existing business activities and through our strategic partnership with Agravis, with whom we develop many international activities. The German market is challenging, but also contains many business opportunities, which I am sure we can utilize together, says Mr. Junker and continues:

- The acquisition of Ceravis AG will strengthen our competitiveness on the global scene, which is the precondition for our ability to be the best possible partner to our owners and customers, he says